Dear Reader,
An unexpected knock at the door. Someone standing there with an ID card claiming they have come to check if you are getting the correct benefits and could they please come in?
What do you do?
You don’t have to be guilty of anything to find the possibility of such a visit very alarming – especially if you have a mental health condition made worse by stress and anxiety.
Last month there was a lot of concern about just such visits, prompted by a change to
a page on the DWP website which stated:
You may get a visit from a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) officer to check that your benefits payments are correct.
A Performance Measurement review officer may visit you if you’re claiming:
Employment and Support Allowance
Housing Benefit
Income Support
Jobseeker’s Allowance
Pension Credit
Your name is selected at random to be checked. You won’t always get a letter in advance telling you about the visit.
The concern was the addition of the sentence:
You won’t always get a letter in advance telling you about the visit.
Worries about how to deal with such a visit were posted on various
blogs and forums and we received numerous requests from members for guidance on how to deal with these visits.
So
Benefits and Work made a Freedom of Information request.
As a result of that request we can now reveal that, in reality, the vast majority of people who get a visit do not get a letter in advance – surprise visits are the rule, not the exception. There’s more on this below.
However, we can also reassure our readers that:
- you don’t have to let them in; and
- you can insist on being given proper notice;
- you can insist on having the interview at a DWP office instead of in your home.
And doing so won’t affect your benefits, though refusing to take part in an interview at all may leave you open to a fraud investigation.
In the members' area we’ve published the letter we got in response to our request and 62 pages of the guidance document issued to officers carrying out these visits - though there are a large number of redactions to the guidance. You’ll find the documents in the DWP Guides section of the
ESA download page in the members' area.
Only a tiny percentage of claimants receive one of these visits. But the majority who do get one are not given any warning.
In fact, far from
‘You won’t always get a letter’ , DWP staff are actually told:
‘You must make an un-notified visit to each customer, apart from the exceptions detailed in the subsequent paragraphs. If this is ineffective a second un-notified visit must be made.’
If two un-notified visits are made on the same day then another un-notified visit must be made on another day.
After that a letter has to be sent giving you at least 48 hours’ notice of a visit or 24 hours where the letter is hand delivered.
There are also certain classes of claimant who should never receive an unannounced visit, including:
“customers suffering from depression or a medically defined mental illness
customers with an alcohol or drug-related dependency
disabled customers where there is evidence from the preview information that they may be distressed if an MRO calls unannounced. “
However, where the visiting officer suspects, on the basis of your files, that you may be committing fraud they can still carry out an un-notified visit even if you are in one of the categories above.
And it’s important to be aware that one of the things visiting officers will do is look out for any difference between the details given in your work capability assessment medical report and your behaviour at home. The rather bizarre example given is that of a claimant who is up a ladder washing windows when visited, but their incapacity is listed as vertigo.
So, if your condition is a variable one and you’re having a better day, make that very clear - even if you aren’t asked.
